iHeartMedia Names Hetal Patel Executive Vice President of SmartAudio® Intelligence Insights

New York, NY – January 3, 2019 – iHeartMedia announced today that Hetal Patel has been named Executive Vice President of SmartAudio® Intelligence Insights, effective immediately. Patel will report to Brian Kaminsky, President of SmartAudio® and Analytics Group for iHeartMedia.

In her new role, Patel will lead the SmartAudio® Intelligence Insights team to create research and insights that shape iHeartMedia’s value proposition. Her responsibilities will include providing critical consumer insights, market intelligence and industry trends to iHeartMedia teams, markets and executives by leveraging expertise in areas such as audience analysis, advertising sales metrics and media and digital consumer research. In addition, Patel will work closely with iHeartMedia’s partners on the development of next-generation analytics, techniques and products including Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Sentiment Analysis and more.

iHeartMedia’s industry-leading marketing optimization tools include SoundPoint (programmatic real-time radio ad buying platform) and SmartAudio® , which enables advertisers to do impression-based audience planning and dynamic radio ad creative that utilizes real-time triggers such as weather, pollen counts, sports scores, mortgage rates and more to deploy different campaign messages based on what is happening in a specific market at a specific moment.  SmartAudio® has allowed brands to use broadcast radio ads to dynamically serve the most relevant message in each market, at each moment, just as they do with digital campaigns to ensure increased relevance and impact. In addition, iHeartMedia has recently acquired Jelli, Inc., the pioneering technology platform for programmatic buying and selling of broadcast radio, and which also powers SoundPoint.

“With our groundbreaking tools like SmartAudio® and SoundPoint, and our recent acquisition of Jelli, iHeartMedia products and new capabilities are transforming how advertisers reach their core audiences,” said Kaminsky. “We’re thrilled that someone with Hetal’s extensive research background and intimate knowledge of iHeartMedia will be playing such a key role in developing our next generation of data driven advertising, attribution and ad effectiveness products.”

Patel brings over a decade of consumer insights and research experience to her new role, most recently as Head of Sales Research & Insights for Vox Media. She previously spent four years as a key member of iHeartMedia’s research team, moving up the ranks to become Vice President of Research, Insights & Analytics. Patel’s background also includes positions at Radius GMR and KPMG Nunwood. She began her media career in 2006 as a research executive for The Nielsen Company based in Mumba, India. Patel is a graduate of the University of Mumbai.

“It really is the golden period of audio,” said Patel. “I am thrilled to be returning to iHeartMedia where data and consumer are genuinely front and center, which means working on truly disruptive and future ready research initiatives designed to address the client and marketplace needs. It’s truly humbling and an honor to be a story teller and voice for iHeartMedia.”

About iHeartMedia, Inc.

iHeartMedia (NASDAQ: IHRT) is the number one audio company in the United States, reaching nine out of 10 Americans every month. It consists of three business groups.

With its quarter of a billion monthly listeners, the iHeartMedia Multiplatform Group has a greater reach than any other media company in the U.S. Its leadership position in audio extends across multiple platforms, including more than 860 live broadcast stations in over 160 markets nationwide; its National Sales organization; and the company’s live and virtual events business. It also includes Premiere Networks, the industry’s largest Networks business, with its Total Traffic and Weather Network (TTWN); and BIN: Black Information Network, the first and only 24/7 national and local all news audio service for the Black community. iHeartMedia also leads the audio industry in analytics, targeting and attribution for its marketing partners with its SmartAudio suite of data targeting and attribution products using data from its massive consumer base.

The iHeartMedia Digital Audio Group includes the company’s fast-growing podcasting business -- iHeartMedia is the number one podcast publisher in downloads, unique listeners, revenue and earnings -- as well as its industry-leading iHeartRadio digital service, available across more than 250 platforms and 2,000 devices; the company’s digital sites, newsletters, digital services and programs; its digital advertising technology companies; and its audio industry-leading social media footprint.

The company’s Audio & Media Services reportable segment includes Katz Media Group, the nation’s largest media representation company, and RCS, the world's leading provider of broadcast and webcast software.

Visit iHeartMedia.com for more company information.